Predator
by RadiantBeam
Summary: There was a thin line separating the predator from its prey. Nadie was using that line as a jump rope. ::Nadie x Ellis:: ::One-shot::


Disclaimer: I do not own El Cazador De La Bruja.

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**Predator**

There was a thin line separating the predator from its prey.

Nadie was using that line as a jump rope.

It wasn't like she didn't know it, either. She knew it just fine—every moment she spent with Ellis, every time she saw the other girl smile and laugh, every time she felt that warmth, that protective surge, she knew she was coming closer and closer to that line.

The line was an unspoken subject between them, and Nadie sometimes wondered if Ellis even knew it existed at all. She wouldn't be surprised if she did; the pale-haired witch was good at picking something up and hiding the fact that she'd ever learned about it at all.

She didn't start wondering if the line could bend until she discovered the truth about Ellis's origins.

Never in her life had she felt such fury. Not the hot, hard anger that came when some injustice was done; she understood that fury, that anger, and she knew how to control it or how to use it to her advantage depending on her mood. But this fury had been cold. It had been cold as ice and thick as iron.

And as she stood there in the silence, clicking a trigger that refused to release bullets, she realized the line was beginning to bend.

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A predator did not sleep beside its prey.

Nadie knew this; she'd lived long enough as a bounty hunter to understand that a person who was foolish enough to sleep beside someone who hunted them would never wake up again.

Deep down, she knew a predator-prey relationship no longer existed between her and Ellis. She had broken her contract with Blue Eyes, had agreed to help Ellis reach the witch village and whatever awaited her there. She had fought agents to protect Ellis.

She was no longer a predator, and Ellis was no longer her prey.

The mindset was still there, though. Flimsy as it was.

Gazing up at the silvery light of the moon and stars, Nadie narrowed her eyes and slanted a quiet look at Ellis. The pale-haired young girl slept peacefully beside her, her fingers curled trustingly against Nadie's, a small smile on her face.

Nadie wondered what she was dreaming about.

And froze when she heard her own name ease past Ellis's lips, soft and gentle like a passing breeze.

Her heart skipped a beat. She felt it distinctly.

The red-haired bounty hunter swallowed the lump that had suddenly sprung into her throat. She continued to look at Ellis, but her eyes softened. She gave Ellis's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah," she murmured as sleep came to claim her at last. "I dream about you too, Ellis."

A predator did not dream about its prey.

And as they slept side by side, a predator and her prey dreaming about each other, the line continued to bend.

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Prey died so that the predator could live.

Nadie knew this; it was a law of the world, a law of nature that had been in place long before she had been born and long before witches of any kind had walked the earth. It was the law that governed the land when manmade laws failed, and no one had ever questioned it.

On heavy legs that felt like iron she staggered up the stairs, slumping beside Ellis, completely ignorant of Rosenburg.

Ellis, who always laughed and smiled.

Ellis, who loved unconditionally.

Ellis, who always said "Yes, sir!" and could always coax a laugh and a smile out of the jaded bounty hunter.

Ellis, who she had sworn to protect.

Ellis, who she had just killed by her own hand.

Ellis, who loved her.

Nadie wasn't even aware of speaking; her hearing was beginning to blur and her eyesight was fading to black. She knew she was dying, but she wasn't afraid.

After all, a predator didn't fear death.

Her gun slipped out of her hand, hit the floor with a clatter. She fell beside Ellis.

Her strength was fading fast, but she had enough consciousness left to cover Ellis's hand with hers one last time, to touch her forehead to hers.

In that moment, Nadie realized she loved Ellis.

In that moment, for the first time, a predator died because without its prey, it had no wish to continue living.

And for a manmade witch and a bounty hunter, the thin line separating a predator from its prey shattered.

**The End**

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I was hoping and praying would one day have a section for El Caza fics. And if this is OOC, I apologize.

I honestly don't know where this came from. I wanted to try my hand at a fic told from Nadie's POV, and somehow I ended up with this. Also--I don't know exactly how Nadie died. I'm not sure if Rosenburg's circle did something to her on the inside (because I didn't see her bleeding) or if she shot herself, which is why I didn't really got into detail with it.

Read and review, please!


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